


Carolina

by atc74writesSPN



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, Sad Dean Winchester, flangst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 11:35:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17021922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atc74writesSPN/pseuds/atc74writesSPN
Summary: Dean sits alone at a diner with just his thoughts and his journal when he meets an old man that makes him see the light.





	Carolina

**Author's Note:**

> Singing along to the radio this week and this idea hit me like a ton of bricks. Based on the song “Feels Like Carolina” by Parmalee. Hope you love it as much as I do. This is written in Dean’s POV.

I sighed, wiping a scarred and rough hand down my face, trying to drive away the fatigue I was feeling. Ten days on the road was too damn long. Sam had long since gone to bed and it was too late for me to be sitting in some no name diner in the middle of nowhere, but that’s where I found myself at one in the morning. I put down the pen and gently closed my journal, running my fingers over the worn leather.

“Looks like a heavy weight, son,” a deep voice broke my thoughts. It was filled with gravel and the smoke of too many cigarettes for too many years.

“Yeah, it is,” I replied looking up and meeting the wrinkled and weathered eyes of the old man in the booth next to mine.

“Young man like you shouldn’t carry such a weight, unless it’s a pretty lady,” he chuckled, sipping on his coffee.

“I got one of those, too, sir,” I smiled, her face shining bright in my mind.

“Well, then what the hell you doin’ sittin’ here in this dump? Go on home to her,” he flicked his hand, waving me out the door.

“I’m here for work with my brother and she’s a thousand miles away,” I responded.

“Job is just a job, son. Home…that’s where you should be,” he pointed out.

“ _Home is where my heart is still beating and I don’t know when I’ll see her again_ ,” I hung my head, spinning my empty mug on the scuffed table.

“Aww hell boy. You know what you gotta do then,” he said, like it was the easiest thing in the world.

“ _It’s hard to understand the way I’m living_ ,” I started. “See me and my brother, we travel around the country, it’s our job. The only job we’ve ever known.  _And I know she thinks I’m never coming home. But I miss her pretty smile and I’m coming back in a little while. But I’m a thousand miles away again_.”

Before I could look the old man in the eye again, he was sitting across from me, the vinyl seat cracking under his weight.

“You wanna be there, but feel like you need to be out here,” he just shook his head like he understood. I got a closer look at him. He introduced himself as Frank and reminded me enough of Bobby that I sat and listened to him. We exchanged stories on everything from life and love to the pursuit of happiness. I told him all the places we’d been, all the beauty we’ve seen, but none of it compared to my girl.

He reached into his pocket and took out a  **tin** of Copenhagen, pinching the tobacco between his gnarled fingers and stuffing in his his cheek. “So Dean, tell me about this girl a yours.”

I smiled, collecting my thoughts for a moment. I’ve traveled all over this great big country and never found anywhere or anyone that felt like home, but I had seen plenty that would do for a night or two. It wasn’t until I met her that I knew what I was missing.

“ _She feels like Carolina, looks like California, shiny like those New York lights on Broadway. When she looks back I’m behind her, I’ll always be there for her. She makes me feel like home’s not so far away,_ ” I rambled on about the love of my life. I remember thinking for so many years that I’d never find someone, that I didn’t deserve someone. Most days I still don’t think I do.  

“Well son, I ain’t one for telling someone what to do, life’s too short for taking orders, but I think you oughta grab your brother, finish whatever job you got and get yer ass home. She’s waitin’ on you,” he took another sip from his mug and turned his gaze towards the window.

“Frank, thanks for the company and conversation. In a life filled with broken glass and shattered dreams, you given me some much needed clarity, sir,” I dropped some bills on the table and shook the old man’s hand.

I exited the old diner and made a beeline for the motel next door. I quietly entered the room and stripped out of my clothes. I could still grab four hours and be on the road to finish this case. God willing I could have my girl in my arms inside of three days, maybe less.

Maybe the old man was right. A job is just a job. We’ve hunted and sacrificed. We’ve started training the next generation of hunters and they’re good. Maybe it’s finally time. Sammy and I can hash out the details on the drive home.

I climbed into the cold, empty bed, and closed my eyes. It wasn’t long before I was asleep and dreaming of Carolina.


End file.
